英字新聞

The Yomiuri Shimbun March 21, 2014
Recent fatal incident underlines need for ensuring quality of babysitters
ネット託児事件　ベビーシッターの質も確保を（3月21日付・読売社説）

A recent fatal case has brought into stark relief the dangerous aspects inherent in online babysitting service sites.
　インターネットのベビーシッター紹介サイトに潜む危険な一面が、浮き彫りになった。

Kanagawa prefectural police have arrested a man on suspicion of abandoning the body of a 2-year-old boy he had been asked to care for via an online babysitting service site.
　神奈川県警が、ベビーシッターの男を、預かった男児の死体遺棄容疑で逮捕した。

Even before the incident, the child’s mother, a resident of Yokohama, had previously used the man’s babysitting services through the online site, but had found various problems with his babysitting habits. However, this time the man used a fictitious name in an exchange of e-mails, and a proxy appeared at a designated meeting place. She entrusted the boy and his 8-month-old younger brother to the proxy, also a babysitter, without knowing the man in question would actually be babysitting again.
　横浜市に住む男児の母親は、以前にも紹介サイトを通じて男にシッターを依頼し、トラブルになった。しかし、メールのやりとりで男が偽名を使い、待ち合わせ場所には代理人が現れたため、同一人物と気づかずに預けたという。

The boy was found dead in an apartment in Saitama Prefecture three days later. The whole picture of this fatal case must be urgently unraveled, and measures to prevent the recurrence of such a terrible incident must be worked out.
　男児は、男が保育室として使っていた埼玉県内のマンションの一室で３日後、遺体で発見された。事件の全容解明と、再発防止に向けた対策が急がれる。

Behind the spread of online babysitting service sites is the convenience of being able to secure babysitters at lower costs and more quickly than via babysitter-dispatch agencies. For economic reasons, many parents have no alternative but to ask for babysitters from online sites to take care of their children.
　紹介サイトが広がっている背景には、派遣事業者を通すよりも低料金で、すぐにシッターを確保できるという利便性がある。経済的な事情から、個人シッターに頼らざるを得ない親も少なくない。

However, it has been pointed out that online babysitting sites are not completely trustworthy because they do not confirm the identities of the babysitters.
　しかし、サイト側がシッターの本人確認をしないなど、信頼性に欠ける面が指摘されている。

Fact-finding is more important than anything else. This was emphasized by Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Norihisa Tamura, who said, “We’d like to examine the circumstances to understand the nature of these services.”
　田村厚生労働相が、「どういう仕組みなのか、状況を調査してみたい」と語ったように、まずは実態把握が重要だ。

Room for improvement

There is room for improvement not only in online babysitting sites, but also in the babysitting industry as a whole. No public qualification is required for babysitters and no registration is mandatory with administrative offices. In fact, administrative checks have failed to reach the actual babysitting work to which children’s lives are entrusted.
　紹介サイトに限らず、ベビーシッター業界全体にも、改善すべき点がある。ベビーシッターには公的資格がなく、行政への届け出も必要ない。子どもの命を預かるシッターの仕事に、行政のチェックが及んでいないのが実情だ。

On the other hand, the way parents’ work has diversified, and the number of single-parent households has been increasing. The demand for babysitters who can provide service at night and on holidays has therefore been rising in recent years.
　一方で、親の働き方が多様化したことに加え、ひとり親家庭も増えている。夜間や休日も対応してくれるベビーシッターの需要は近年、高まっている。

Ensuring the quality of babysitters is a big challenge.
　シッターの質の確保が、大きな課題である。

The All Japan Childcare Services Association, comprising 100 member companies, has set its own qualification system for babysitters. More voluntary efforts are urged on the part of the babysitting industry as a whole.
　事業者１００社が加盟する「全国保育サービス協会」では、独自の資格制度を設けている。業界の自主的な取り組みをさらに強化してもらいたい。

Under a new system for supporting child-rearing that will begin in fiscal 2015, some babysitting businesses will be licensed by the governments of cities, towns and villages. Subsidies will be provided to babysitters if they receive designated seminar programs.
　２０１５年度に始まる政府の子育て支援の新制度では、シッター業務の一部を市町村の認可制とする。所定の研修を受ければ、シッター側に補助金を支給する。

The subsidies thus granted will lessen the financial burden on those using babysitting services. This is expected to lead to eliminating dishonest operators who advertise their low-price services. The quality of babysitters must be enhanced as a whole by expanding such a support system.
　補助金の分、利用者負担が軽減され、安さを売り物にした悪質業者の排除につながると期待される。こうした仕組みを拡充し、全体の質を高めたい。

Users are responsible for deciding which babysitters they will choose. In the aftermath of the fatal incident, the welfare ministry has presented a list of matters to be attended to when using babysitters. These include having an interview beforehand to confirm whether babysitters can be trusted. It is crucial to pay attention to such matters.
　どのシッターを選ぶかは、利用者側の責任だ。厚労省は事件を受け、シッター利用時の注意事項を示した。事前に面接し、信頼できる人物かどうか確かめる。こうした点に留意する必要がある。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, March 21, 2014)
（2014年3月21日01時25分 読売新聞）